Feb. 28, 2013

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The No. 71 Mizzou tennis team officially opens Southeastern Conference action on Friday, March 1 as the Tigers face the No. 4 Florida Gators at 5 p.m. at the Green Tennis Center. Admission to the match is free.

Missouri enters Friday's match with a 6-1 record in dual matches this spring. The Tigers are in the midst of a five-match win streak dating back to the team's 4-0 win over Brown on Jan. 27. In its last two outings, Mizzou posted 7-0 sweeps over UMKC (Feb. 20) and Stephen F. Austin (Feb. 23) at the Green Tennis Center.

Junior Cierra Gaytan-Leach is ranked 107th in the nation in singles and boasts a spring record of 9-0, including a 7-0 mark in dual matches. Senior Maria Christensen is not far behind with an 8-1 spring mark and a 7-0 record in dual matches.

Florida is ranked fourth in the nation and owns a 5-1 record this spring. The Gators have defeated No. 1 North Carolina (4-2), No. 13 Stanford (4-2), No. 15 Baylor (7-0), No. 18 Clemson (6-1), No. 43 South Florida (7-0) and UCF (7-0). The team's lone loss wa a 4-0 defeat at the hands of No. 4 Duke.

All six of Florida's singles players are ranked in the ITA's National Singles Rankings, led by senior Lauren Embree at No. 1. Also ranked are junior Sofie Oyen (No. 11), junior Alexandra Cercone (No. 53), freshman Danielle Collins (No. 76), junior Olivia Janowicz (No. 109) and freshman Brianna Morgan (No. 114). Additionally, the doubles team of Embree and Oyen is ranked 15th nationally.